If you are married or living together...?

Question

how do you handle your finances? I mean - do you have separate accounts and each pay half for the bills or do you put deposits in one place and pay bills from there? What is working positively about the way you handle this?

Answer 1

Divorce happens.
Break ups happen.
Someone once told me that you should always consider what will happen when it is over. I thought that was really negative. I was really naive. Now, I'm in a massive hole.
I will never again share a joint account with anyone.
You pay for you. I'll pay for me. I may like you a lot, or love you a little, but you're not getting access to my bank account. Ever.
I think that money is the biggest reason for divorce. Everyone has different beliefs where money is concerned. Your partners priority will not completely match your own. Why fight about it? If you can pay your half and still afford to buy expensive shampoo, or baseball cards, or X-Box games, or donate it to charity, or whatever you think is important to you then you should do it. Your partner may think that those things are stupid, but spend the money on manicures, golf outings, shoes, or other things that you think are excessively wasteful.
Ya gotta keep 'em separated!

Answer 2

My hubby and I have separate accounts. We've got the bills divided as a percentage of how much we each make. He makes quite a bit more for me and therefore pays a larger share of bills. We have both had problems in past relationships with joint accounts and have sworn never to do that again. Having said that, we still share what's left over after the bills are paid. If we need a new lawn mower, whoever has the money in their account to afford it buys it, or we split the cost if we're both a little short. It works out well for us because we have power over our own earnings, and neither of us is seeing the other spend money on things we wouldn't spend it on and going without something we may want. Our philosopy is once the bills are paid, obligations and needs are met for everyone in the house, whatever is left is yours to do with what you want. When one of us runs short of money, we'll transfer money between the two accounts. You have to have an understanding when you do this that you're still in it together, no matter how the money is divided up. We decided against splitting bills evenly, as that leaves the person with the lower income with less money after everything is paid. We just try to keep it even and it works for us.

Answer 3

I am a firm believer in having separate accounts if you are single but living together, sad thing is, you never know what can happen in your relationship so play it safe. As for being married, I would say to get one account for the household and separate ones for each other. That way you don't have to explain why you bought that power saw or went on a shopping spree to your mate. You should be able to spend your money the way you chose and still be able to keep the house running smoothly.

Answer 4

I moved my bank account to my husband's bank so that we could each have individual accounts and open one linked joint account so that we can transfer money into the joint account monthly.

We got a joint credit card (with mileage so that we can take trips together) and that's how we pay for all of the household items, including groceries and eating out. The credit card bill gets paid out of the jointly funded account. (The Bank of America system makes this really easy to do.)

We thought that when we got married we would just consolidate, but we haven't. Instead we just opened a joint savings account so that we can start saving together. I thought it would be awkward not to have everything jointly but it actually means that when either of us spend "too much" on something for ourselves, nobody feels bad.

Of course, we're both thrifty, have good credit, and only "good" debt. I don't know how I would feel about taking on someone else's credit card debt.

Answer 5

My husband and I have a joint checking account which we use to pay our bills and for personal expenses. We also have a joint checking account for the part-time business that we own, which we use for all of our business expenses. We have a joint savings account for emergencies. We each also have our own separate credit card (we limit ourselves to 1 credit card apiece) because we each wanted to establish credit in our own names. We don't worry about each paying half of the bills. My husband also works outside the home as a licensed mechanic and smog technician, in addition to the part-time business that we own, so he makes a lot more money than I do running our business. We both make deposits into our personal checking account and pay bills from there. We let each other know when we make a withdrawal with the ATM card (we each have one) from our personal checking account. This seems to work well for us.

Answer 6

in the Case of marriage there should only be one account. but if you are just living together there should be two. one for the home expenses(necessities), and the other for individual expenses(movies, dates, travel). write checks for bills and depending on the conversation between the two of you decide on 1/2 and 1/2 on the bills. to me it doesn't make sense because you both live there. and no matter where you live you have to pay. there is no stress or animosity if you handle money this way.

Answer 7

Joint account. Have one person pay the bills, than the other one audit the check book, keeping both involved in the finances. Rotate if it becomes a problem...

Answer 8

I work and get paid. My wife works at home taking care of the kids and shopping as needed. (We're married obviously.) I keep track of the finances for the most part but I keep my wife informed. We have only joint accounts except for a credit card or two.

Answer 9

I am married, but even when my wife and I were living together we had shared accounts. I have always viewed separate accounts (especially if you are married) as somewhat destructive. The reason I see it this way is because you get into this mentality of my money and your money. Marriage is about partnership and sharing. You should have common goals.

Answer 10

I am married and we have joint accounts, my husband and I. But if you are living with someone before marraige, and you are not willing to commit to the marriage yet, for what ever reason, you should have seperate accounts just in case.